Penn State assistant coach Phil Galiano leaving to pursue NFL opportunity
Penn State special-teams coordinator Phil Galiano is leaving Happy Valley — but not for the reason fans might think.
Galiano, who survived the hot seat after a mistake-filled 2018, is trading his post at Penn State for an opportunity in the NFL, according to a statement released Friday by the athletics department. A job ad for Galiano’s position was also publicly posted on Penn State’s official job boards late Thursday night or early Friday morning.
“We are excited for Phil and his family,” head coach James Franklin said in a written statement. “This is a tremendous opportunity for Phil to return to the NFL. We are very appreciative of Phil and everything he has done for our program over the last two years. We wish him nothing but success moving forward.”
Galiano’s new NFL destination has not yet been officially announced. However, citing a source, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Galiano will become the New Orleans Saints’ assistant special teams coach. And, according to MLive’s Kyle Meinke, Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia hopped on a flight to State College on Tuesday.
Galiano spent two seasons in Happy Valley, one as a defensive consultant in 2017 and another as the special-teams coordinator in 2018 when the NCAA allowed teams to hire another full-time coach. But Galiano’s time on special teams didn’t exactly go smoothly.
His units this past season were often defined by mistakes and miscues. In the Citrus Bowl loss against Kentucky, the special teams’ performance included a failed fake-punt attempt, allowing a punt-return TD, an out-of-bounds kickoff and two missed field goals. Franklin said after the game, regarding special teams, “It wasn’t up to our standards today. Wasn’t up to our standards all year long.”
The regression in special teams between the 2017 season with Charles Huff (who bolted for Mississippi State and is now with Alabama) and the 2018 campaign with Galiano was incredibly stark. In 2017, Penn State was ranked No. 25 nationally in net punting. With Galiano, that ranking dipped to No. 68. Punt-return average ranked No. 16 nationally the year before Galiano took over, then it fell to No. 72. Punt defense? No different, falling from No. 29 to No. 69. Kick-return defense? From No. 39 to No. 84.
The only place Penn State improved, statistically, was in kick returns and field goals.
When Franklin was asked earlier this month why he decided to retain Galiano, he intimated that it wasn’t just about his 2018 job performance.
“I don’t make decisions just based on one area,” Franklin said at the time. “It’s a body of work. It’s how are they with the players? It’s how are they in terms of the staff? It’s in terms of development of the individual players. It’s in development of the scheme. It’s in production on game day. It’s in organization and practice. It’s the type of role model they are for our players. It’s all of it.
“And for me it always comes down to, is this the right thing to do for our program long term? And is the investment that we’re making, are we going to get a return on that investment, and how long are we going to have to wait for that return on that investment?”
Galiano has been coaching since 2000 and broke into the FBS as a Rutgers graduate assistant in 2003. He spent eight total seasons at Rutgers, to go along with a three-year stop at Florida International. He also worked as a special-teams assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012-2013 and was a Miami Dolphins special-teams intern in 2016.
By posting the job ad so soon, the Nittany Lions can immediately begin their search for a replacement.
This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 9:20 AM.